I really am at a complete loss for what to do here. I have never kept chickens (I had planned to and hope to at some point) but I have ended up with an injured baby chick. So long story short, I have no supplies, no experience, and no knowledge of what to do.
There are feral chickens all over around here, and because I live in a rural area, they are all over our property. When I came home tonight I heard a clutch of new babies, and assumed the hen had been shot or somehow killed. I didn't think much of it, until right before I fell asleep I heard one screaming just outside my house. I went out and my cat had caught it. The baby seems just a few days old. I didn't think it was going to make it at all, so I was going to dispatch it as humanely as possible. While I held it, I just couldn't do it. Other than a few bite wounds to its back (I know internal injuries are very likely) nothing seems broken.
This happened late at night so I currently have the baby in a small box with some towels. I have no heat lamp, but I have a heat pad I have the box sitting on on a low temp setting. We live in tropical climate so its not too cold, but I know heat is important.
Other than that, I have no idea what I should do. I know most likely this poor thing will die in the night, but the way I see it as a more or less wild animal I should give it the opportunity to fight and survive, or pass peacefully. If it survives the night I will get some supplies tomorrow, but I need some sort of idea of what I'm doing or what I need. I have no idea what to feed it, how to water it, what sort of medication it might need, etc. I've read up on basic chick care, but with it being injured I'm not sure what does and does not apply.
Thank you so much. I really hope this little thing pulls through, and if not I am glad to at least have put an effort in and made it a little more comfortable.
There are feral chickens all over around here, and because I live in a rural area, they are all over our property. When I came home tonight I heard a clutch of new babies, and assumed the hen had been shot or somehow killed. I didn't think much of it, until right before I fell asleep I heard one screaming just outside my house. I went out and my cat had caught it. The baby seems just a few days old. I didn't think it was going to make it at all, so I was going to dispatch it as humanely as possible. While I held it, I just couldn't do it. Other than a few bite wounds to its back (I know internal injuries are very likely) nothing seems broken.
This happened late at night so I currently have the baby in a small box with some towels. I have no heat lamp, but I have a heat pad I have the box sitting on on a low temp setting. We live in tropical climate so its not too cold, but I know heat is important.
Other than that, I have no idea what I should do. I know most likely this poor thing will die in the night, but the way I see it as a more or less wild animal I should give it the opportunity to fight and survive, or pass peacefully. If it survives the night I will get some supplies tomorrow, but I need some sort of idea of what I'm doing or what I need. I have no idea what to feed it, how to water it, what sort of medication it might need, etc. I've read up on basic chick care, but with it being injured I'm not sure what does and does not apply.
Thank you so much. I really hope this little thing pulls through, and if not I am glad to at least have put an effort in and made it a little more comfortable.
